I’m in the Arms of the Cursed Grand Duke - Chapter 15

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 15

She looked angry yet sad at the same time. She also seemed filled with some kind of determination.

“…Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Running away and leaving someone behind is a sin. The person left behind has every right to blame you.”

“Clemente.”

“There might be reasons for it. But the person who gets left behind like that…”

Zephyrus couldn’t tell what was contained in that voice that sounded like she was reading a dry, emotionless book. Not knowing how to respond, he could only tremble his eyelids when.

Clemente smiled brightly.

“And you promised!”

“Promise?”

“Yes! You promised that I would help you!”

“…Was that a promise?”

“Of course it was.”

Zephyrus stared intently at Clemente, who was huffing through her nose.

As if her previous expression had been a mirage, Clemente was once again smiling with a bright face without a trace of shadow.

‘…Is this fortunate?’

He didn’t want to see that kind of expression on Clemente’s face. He didn’t want to hear that cold voice either.

It was selfish. Even someone like him who had only read books knew that would be difficult for any human being.

‘However…’

He gazed into Clemente’s warm and clear eyes.

“Clemente.”

“Yes.”

“Could you promise me once more?”

“What?”

In his world, Clemente would be the only person closest to him.

Even if he stepped outside his room with Clemente’s help. Even if he faced others and had conversations with them. Even if the number of people he shared meals with increased.

Clemente would always occupy the first place in his heart.

“Clemente.”

“Yes. Tell me.”

Holding hands like this.

“That you will never leave me.”

Clemente was the only person he could rest his forehead against her shoulder.

“Even if I can’t go outside, you must stay by my side.”

It was an intuition.

A sad intuition that if Clemente left, he would never feel human warmth again.

That was precisely why Zephyrus had no intention of letting Clemente go.

He wouldn’t stand by and watch her lose her warmth either.

‘I will eliminate everything that makes you like that.’

As he made that resolution, Clemente called out to him.

“Master.”

“Yes.”

Though he spoke in a voice so cold that no emotion could be felt, Zephyrus’s face was hotter than anything.

Clemente grabbed Zephyrus’s shoulders to make him sit properly and asked gently.

“Master, are you a child?”

**

Clemente had an idea of why Zephyrus was acting this way.

It was because she had shown something unnecessary.

At the word “running away,” at the mention that running away wasn’t something to be blamed for, childhood memories had surfaced and she couldn’t control her emotions.

She had only heard what thoughtless children said when she was young, but those words must have been quite shocking.

“That kid’s mom ran away and left her child!”

“My mom said people who abandon their children are vermin.”

“But if you gave birth to a monster, wouldn’t you be unable to raise it?”

“Anyway, it’s true that she ran away abandoning her child!”

“She ran away, she ran away~ Her mommy~ is a bug~”

She had made them pay sufficiently for that mockery, but the voices and emotions from that time were still vivid.

Zephyrus had said it without knowing anything.

But for her, who had been left behind and abandoned without knowing anything, those were words she didn’t want to hear.

She had never once wished for the parents who abandoned her to live happily.

She hoped they would regret it. She would live well enough to make them regret abandoning her.

‘Right now, the best way for me to live well is this.’

First, raise the frail master of the Northern Region well and become best friends!

Second, research his curse and her constitution to aim for a comfortable life!

To do that, she needed to change Zephyrus’s mindset.

“Master, are you a child?”

“…What?”

“Why are you saying such weak things? Even if you can’t go outside? You’re saying that in front of your teacher? I’m a bit disappointed?”

Zephyrus opened his mouth in bewilderment.

“I told you I’ll definitely make you able to go outside.”

At her firm tone, Zephyrus slightly lowered his gaze and fidgeted with his fingers.

Something seemed wrong somehow. He didn’t know what was wrong, but still.

So he was slow to realize that Clemente’s words had changed from before.

She had definitely said she wasn’t certain last time.

“…Are you confident?”

“I wasn’t before. But I am now. It’s possible. You’ve already gotten much better, haven’t you?”

Zephyrus shook his head.

“Don’t worry. I can do it. You can do it too, Master.”

Clemente lifted up Zephyrus’s pinky finger as he couldn’t stay still for a moment.

“And I think I mentioned this before. I also find it cool and nice to be by your side. Do you know how precious that is to me? You probably don’t. That’s why you thought about running away and such.”

While pouting and grumbling, she hooked her own pinky finger around Zephyrus’s finger.

“I said we were friends. I won’t go anywhere until you can control it properly.”

“What about when I can control it?”

“Hmm. Since you’ll have made really, really close friends here, you’ll be able to make other friends or even find a lover. You should think about it too, Master. Things you want to do when you go outside.”

Clemente acted smugly, saying that when such things accumulate, you’ll want to work hard, and shook their tightly intertwined pinky fingers while smiling.

‘…That’s not what I wanted to know.’

When he could control himself well like Clemente and live a normal daily life, then.

Would she leave me with relief?

Zephyrus looked at their connected hands and then changed the subject.

“So, what happened today?”

“Oh, right. I was so surprised too.”

He didn’t know about the distant future.

Right now, this time spent having conversations like this was precious.

As Clemente was elaborating on her bewilderment, he briefly interrupted.

“Come to think of it, you.”

“Yes?”

“Before we talk in earnest, bring some snacks.”

“Didn’t you eat?”

“No one brought me anything.”

Clemente covered her mouth as if shocked and jumped up.

“I’ll bring some right away! Wait for me!”

Zephyrus looked at the closed door and smiled, then realized he was sitting collapsed on the carpet.

He stood up nonchalantly and sat at his desk.

“Hm. Ah.”

He discovered that even though Clemente had left, he had taken off his gloves and was bare-handed.

Yet he felt stable. He wasn’t getting cold. He wasn’t anxious. It seemed as if his unstable conditions had disappeared with just one promise from Clemente.

‘Was it really this simple?’

He clenched his fist tightly, hoping the warmth remaining in his hands wouldn’t escape.

**

To cut to the conclusion, Clemente couldn’t return to Zephyrus again.

“Clemente! Hurry! There’s somewhere we need to go!”

It was because she was dragged away by Ruby while urging for food to eat with the Duke in the dining hall.

“Huh, what? Wait a moment. Please tell my master that I was dragged away!”

“What, what did you say? How can I!”

While a kitchen maid was calling out to Clemente and waving her arms helplessly, the two were already quickly leaving the kitchen.

Ruby briefly explained the situation as they went.

She had been looking for Clemente at Sié’s request, but there had been chaos because she was nowhere to be found.

“Haha, there was a bit of a reason for that.”

“Yes. So I was waiting for a moment for you to speak with His Highness… but the Dowager Duchess’s condition suddenly worsened.”

It was because the manor had grown cold.

Clemente’s expression hardened.

“I know where the room is, so I’ll go ahead first.”

Clemente gathered up her obstructive skirt hem and picked up her pace.

**

It didn’t take long to reach the Dowager Duchess’s chamber.

After catching her breath once upon arrival and knocking, the door opened as if they had been waiting.

Sié clung to her with a pale face.

“Clemente! Please save the Dowager Duchess!”

“What should I do?”

Clemente asked calmly. The physician answered.

“We need to warm the Dowager Duchess.”

“Don’t worry.”

Clemente grasped the Dowager Duchess’s hand. It was even colder than when she first touched it.

“Dowager Duchess, right now my master, His Highness the Duke, is working very hard. He’s trying so earnestly because he wants to see your face and have a conversation.”

She gradually raised the temperature.

If you’re too hasty, even what should work won’t work.

“It won’t be for long, but he can even remove that face covering. I wondered who he resembled to be so pretty and handsome, but now I see it’s all because he takes after the Dowager Duchess.”

Clemente chattered away in a steady voice.

Sié and the physician, who had been quietly watching them from behind, wiped away the sweat streaming down.

‘It’s hot.’

When had it become this hot?

The physician checked the Dowager Duchess’s condition.

“You can stop now. Her body temperature has returned.”

“Phew!”

Clemente, who let out a sigh of relief, gently arranged the Dowager Duchess’s disheveled hair.

“What happened so suddenly? She seemed fine just yesterday.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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